Regional Guide to International Conflict and Management from 1945 to 2003. Jacob Bercovitch and Judith Fretter. 369p. Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2004. 1-56802-825-3; 2004-21954. $115.

Experts estimate that since 1945 between 25 million and 30 million people have been killed as a direct result of international conflicts. Millions more have been displaced from their homes, deprived of their livelihoods, and exposed to disease and starvation. Key causes of conflicts have been disputes over territory, ideology, security, ethnicity, independence and resources. The United Nations and other international agencies have tried to manage these conflicts with varying degrees of success.

This guide provides a survey of 343 conflicts from 1945 to mid 2003. Introductory essays examine the nature of world conflicts and the methods that international organizations have taken to manage them. Entries on particular conflicts are divided by region: Africa, the Americas, East Asia and the Pacific, Southwest Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Each section begins with a list of conflicts, maps and a regional overview. Entries are then arranged chronologically by the beginning date of the conflict. Each entry analyses the core issues, precipitating events, the countries and combatants involved, the number of casualties, economic and political impacts, and the efforts taken to resolve the conflict. Selected lists of references provide additional sources of information. Appendices provide lists of countries by region, a full list chronology of conflicts and overviews of organizations like the UN, the Arab League, the African Union and the Organization of American States.

Much of this information previously appeared in Bercovitch's International Conflict: A Chronological Encyclopedia of Conflicts and Their Management 1945-1995 (Congressional Quarterly, 1997). However, the regional arrangement and overviews enhance understanding of many related international conflicts. The intervening years have also garnered many new conflicts that are covered here. One notable exception is the invasion of Iraq. While the authors do provide information on the conflict in the introduction, they did not feel they had adequate data on the war to include it here. Other entries are thoroughly updated. The New Zealand perspective of the authors provides a useful counterpoint to international studies materials that may have an American bias. Their guide to understanding conflict in the world today will be useful in academic and public libraries.